Question: Michael earns a base salary of $300.00 every week with an additional 9% commission on everything he sells. If Michael sold $5500.00 worth of items last week, what was his total salary?
Solution: First, find the amount of commission made by using the following formula: commission rate $\times$ total sales $=$ amount of commission made Since the commission rate is a percentage, we have to convert it into a decimal first. Percent means "out of one hundred," so $9\%$ is equivalent to $\frac{9}{100}$ which is also equal to $9 \div 100$ $9 \div 100 = 0.09$ Now you have all the information you need to find the amount of commission made: $0.09$ $\times$ $$5500.00$ $=$ $$495.00$ We can find the total salary for Michael by adding the amount of commission made to his base salary. amount of commission made $+$ base salary $=$ total salary $$495.00$ $+$ $$300.00$ $=$ $$795.00$ The total salary Michael made last week was $$795.00$.